No more using me
by Death by Nutella
Summary: Edward and Bella have been 'friends' for years. When Bella finally realises where she stands, hers and Edward's relationship is in for a storm. The pair discovers what really matters and why they were ever friends in the first place. Eventual canon pairs
1. Chapter 1

**B-  
Alice is being a bitch again, meet me at Starbucks at 10? xx  
E**

After a quick glance at the clock I saw I had half an hour, giving me time to be there.

**E-  
Fine.  
B**

Edward Cullen had been my friend for 7 years now, and had been my 'best friend' for 5 years. I met him 10 years ago, when I was 12. I hated him at first, he was shockingly cocky and self confident. He didn't seem to care what anyone else thought of him. And let me tell you, the feeling was mutual. He told me to stay away from him, not to touch him, and if I sat anywhere near him, he would move as far away as possible. To this day I still didn't understand why he had done that, he never told me.

When I was 14, my best friend Alice made friends with Edward. They had been lab partners for Chemistry one day, and Edward spent lunch with Alice and me. After that day they were almost as inseparable as me and Alice. Edward and I were forced to put up with each other, but everything changed when Edward started liking Alice as more than friends.

One day, when we were 15, I got a text from a number I didn't recognise.

**Why were you running?**

I had just been running with my friend Angela to meet my mum at the car, she got mad when we took too long and I still had to collect my cooking from Home Economics. I showed Angela the text, asking if she recognised the number, she shook her head and grabbed my phone, pressing the call button.

"Hello, who is this?" She spoke confidently into the phone, something that was very rare for Angela. "EDWARD? What are you doing texting Bella?" At hearing that, I snatched the phone from Angela.

"How the hell did you get my number?" I demanded, wondering why the guy who barely spoke to me even wanted my number.

"I have my sources," I could practically hear him smirking, "Can I text you later? I kinda wanna talk to you about something."

"Whatever, go ahead. What is it?" I asked curiously.

"I'd rather like text you about it, to be honest."

"Sure, I'll talk to you later," I heard him mumble a 'bye' before I hung up.

I saved his number to my phone and decided to answer his original question.

**Because I need to get my Home Ec before I meet my mum. X**

I got a response almost instantaneously.

**No kisses on texts. Please? Now can I ask you something: How do I get Alice to like me?**

After a lot of questioning, I gave Edward the answers he wanted. I told him that he couldn't force her into liking him and that she was one of the girls that knew what she wanted, and when she wanted it, she would get it. She needed time.

Edward and Alice never dated, though at one time they both liked each other, because they decided that they couldn't risk their friendship, but one good thing came from that day: a new found friendship with Edward Cullen.

By the time we were 17, Edward and I were the best of friends, or so I thought, but I started to get the feeling that Edward and I were closer when he was arguing with Alice. At school, in front of some people, he could be really cruel to me, but I just dismissed it as what Edward was like. He made jokes out of me all the time, and used it to spite me. He got mad so easily, but the way he acted when we were alone, or online and via. phone had me trapped.

How could one guy be my worst enemy and best friend all at once?

At 20, Edward left for a week for a ski trip. That was the first time he ever put a kiss on a text. After 5 years, he started putting kisses on some texts... I almost thought it scary. That same week, I told him that I did care about him and that he was my best friend. He told me the same.

Something we have done for years is send each other lists of our top 5 friends, and the top 5 people we like. Our friends usually are a variation of order including each other, Alice, Rose, Emmett and Jasper. Sometimes we'll have arguments so another person will replace one of us, but usually the friends stay the same. We put them all at equals on the list, but we secretly know who we are closest to. Rose, Ali and Edward are my best friends, but Jazz and Em are a great laugh.

Alice is totally different to how you would expect, looking at her. She's gorgeous. She has short black hair and amazing blue eyes, she looks like she would be a total girly girl, but she's not. She loves clothes and make up, and is always dressed to the nines but Ali likes to have fun, and she never gets embarrassed. She and I were in the Navy Section of CCF, along with Edward. She loves the outdoors, canoeing and everything. Alice and I have this handshake, it's the most embarrassing yet fun handshake you could come up with, and we've been doing it since we were 14. We always have a laugh.

Rose is a lot more girly than Alice, though she hates to say so. Rose is convinced that she's practically a tom boy, and she hates pink, but she obsesses over her appearance and is a real gossip. Rose is awesome though. She loves shopping, and talking but she loves to get muddy, so confusing. She doesn't make friends with girls very well, but she seems to make friends with every guy we know... its kind of annoying at times. Rose has all the boys drooling over her.

Em and Jazz are both great. If you want to laugh and just forget about your troubles, go and find Emmett, but if you need someone to talk to, Jazz is the best. Emmett always knows how to make you feel better, but Jasper always knows what you're feeling. They're a great combination and amazing to have around.

Edward... well... Edward is confusing. He and I have some twisted relationship where I'll give him advice, and he'll listen and usually follow it, but then as soon as we're with other people, he starts to be cold towards me. Alice and Edward are like brother and sister with their arguments; they're never ending and confuse the hell out of me. Alice and Edward really love each other though, and I don't think that'll ever change. Edward is always changing his girlfriend. He seems to think I know everything about girls, and appears to think I want to know about his sex life.

For god's sake, he texted me about 5 minutes after receiving his first blow job, but I know he's still a virgin, surprisingly. I hate how Edward throws around the word 'love', he'll 'hate' someone one day and 'love' them the next, but really, he knows just as well as I do that that isn't the case.

I knew I had to meet Edward as soon as i had received the text, I can't deny Edward, no matter how hard I try. There's just something about him. I think it may stem from when we were younger, until we were 16, Edward was _really_ short, meaning like half a head shorter than me... and I'm 5'4. Edward was always so... vulnerable and innocent when we were little, and I miss that side of him sometimes, but I still can't say no to him now.

Edward is now 23, while I am 22. We both go to medical school. Edward has always known what he wanted to do, but I've always wanted to write. I love writing. English was always my best subject, I never got less than an A, in my whole life, but I quit, in order to pursue something that would challenge me.

My mother always told me that I could do anything, be whatever or whoever I wanted to be. My grades proved it. I wanted to challenge myself and do something that a lot of people couldn't, because everyone thinks they can write, but now I regretted not doing something with my writing.

Edward knew I regretted doing medicine and supported me through, helping me all the way. That was what I got in return for what I was about to do once again for him, talk about him falling out with my best friend.

As I walked into Starbucks I saw Edward sitting in the corner grinning at me from behind his cup, and indicating to another cup on the table, letting me know he'd got me one too. I loved Starbucks, and even Edward knew that bringing me here would soften me up.

"Hey Bells, have you spoken to Alice today?" Was that really how he greeted me? I hated how he didn't even ask how I was.

I shook my head whilst pulling off the scarf and hat I had been wearing. "No, what's up?"

"It's just, Alice is getting mad at me all the time and I really don't know why, can you try and find out for me?"

I frowned at him, not liking how he was just using me to get to Alice... again.

"I'm sorry." I heard him say.

"What? Why are you sorry?" I asked.

"I can tell I've done something, because you're glaring at the table, I'm sorry for whatever it is, okay?" He smirked.

How could he think he could just talk to me like that? 'I'm so sorry for whatever I did', asshole. No, you're not sorry.

"No, not okay, because you're not sorry. I know you don't realise what it is you've done, so I'll tell you: you think of me as temporary. Every time you fall out with Alice, you come running to me for help. Yes, she's my best friend, yes, I want you and Alice to be friends, but I don't want to be the one to solve it every time. Especially when as soon as you start talking to her again, you stop being nice to me. You stop being _my _friend. And I _really_ can't put up with that anymore. You don't actually care about _me,_" I ranted.

I didn't realise how true my words were until I said them. Edward _was _using me to get to Alice. He wanted to get her on his good side and he couldn't do that without me. But he could, and I didn't need to put up with him.

I turned around to leave and Edward grabbed my arm, "I do care about you Bells." He grinned, "Now come and sit down." He only called me Bells when he'd done something wrong. And this time he had.

"No, I won't sit down until you answer me this... if you care do you actually know anything about me?" I inquired.

"Of course I do."

"What's my middle name?" I tested.

"Sarah." It was Marie.

"When's my birthday?"

"May 3rd." It was October 28th.

"What's my little sister's name?"

"Jessica?" It was Ellie.

I turned around, leaving the shop and not planning on coming back any time soon.


	2. Chapter 2

_LAST TIME_

_"No, I won't sit down until you answer me this... if you care do you actually know anything about me?" I inquired._

_"Of course I do."_

_"What's my middle name?" I tested._

_"Sarah." It was Marie._

_"When's my birthday?"_

_"May 3rd." It was October 28th._

_"What's my little sister's name?"_

_"Jessica?" It was Ellie._

_I turned around, leaving the shop and not planning on coming back any time soon._

I went home thinking of everything Edward and I had done together: when we met for the first time, that day when we became friends, CCF camp... I came up with a lot. I realised that every memory I had of Edward was mainly positive, with negative things strung in.

I grabbed my photo album from the draws in my desk, before curling up at one end of my bed and opening it to see what was inside. I came up with pictures of Alice and I, when we were around 13, of the night I spent at hers when we decided to draw toothpaste moustaches on each other. I remembered how it burnt our faces, but we took the pictures anyway so that we could capture the moment. I found another of us that same night, we had lens-less glasses on and done our hair to look like dorks. We both had braces and acne. I laughed at the images of us before Edward invaded our lives.

I found a picture of Rose and I in glasses, we looked around 15. She wore my old glasses while I wore my new ones... I remember Rose insisting on wearing them all day. That day we had watched an Iron Maiden video in history class 'Run to the hills' in order to learn about Native Americans... or so our teacher said. In the video, they had a private plane. This was what triggered Rose's obsession with my glasses. She had the theory that glasses made you concentrate in class, concentrating in class made you smart, being smart made you do well in school, doing well in school made you get a good job, getting a good job meant you had lots of money... and if you had lots of money, you could buy a plane. Really, it was hilarious and we spent most of the day explaining the concept to people.

I burst out laughing as I turned the page onto the next pictures. On the left there was Alice holding a guitar. We were 16. I remembered being on webcam to a boy called Jack. Alice had the hots for him, and was tired. When Alice is tired... interesting things happen. She acts very drunk, hence why the tone-deaf girl, who didn't play guitar had picked up Emmett's acoustic and had started singing and 'playing' a song, dedicated to Jack. I was envious of him, as we didn't have sound on webcam so he couldn't hear us. I had to explain to him that he was lucky as I was quickly losing hearing. We spent the whole night laughing after that, and Alice's hyper-mood didn't wear off until she passed out at 2 a.m.

As I looked over to the right, I smiled and almost started crying at the picture. When we were 17, I had been off school for nearly a month due to severe stomach pain. I was thought to have a cyst of something of the likes. After having a scan come up as clear, blood tests and more, it was never found out what had been wrong. The pain eventually stopped, and it was decided that it was hormones. Alice had come to visit me and gave me a get-well-soon card signed by our entire Junior class, as well as Jasper, Edward, and Emmett. They were all Seniors. As I walked into homeroom on my first day back my whole class assaulted me with hugs. That day, Edward told me that no one acted the same without me around, and that he missed me. _Really_ missed me.

I don't think I mentioned it yet, but Jasper 's my brother. Rose and Edward are siblings, as are Alice and Emmett. My brother has always meant the world to me and I would do anything for him, the same applies for my baby sisters Ellie who's 12, and Millie, who's 6.

There was another of Rose, Alice and I fairly recently, our hair flying everywhere as we danced to 'Whip my hair' by Willow Smith. We didn't particularly like the song, we just loved shaking our hair around. Alice was especially keen on this, because up until recently her hair had been very short, and now it was about shoulder length, still fairly short but she's growing it. It's black as black and silky straight.

I then found a photo of Emmett, Edward, Jazz, Rose, Alice and I. I was on Jasper's back, and Alice was on Emmett's while Rose was on Edward's. We had been at a carnival and I had decided to creep up on Jasper from behind, needless to say he sensed me coming and grabbed me first. He lifted me up and ran towards the Candy Floss. Emmett and Edward were trailing behind having attacked Alice and Rose in the same way. When Jazz got to the Candy Floss, I remember him charming the lady at the booth with his Southern drawl. 'Excuse me ma'am, could I have 6 sticks of Candy Floss please?" He winked. When the lady handed him the sticks he gave two each to Emmett and Edward, and then handed one to me, "Here you go milady". Jazz moved me onto his back so he could eat the Candy Floss, Edward and Emmett following suit. This was when Alice jumped off of Emmett and asked a passerby to take this photograph. That day was amazing.

Edward was always just part of the group, just as much a friend to me as the others when we were together, it was when people who we didn't know so well that Edward was so rude to me in front of. Except his girlfriends, girls were always jealous of me with Edward, because when he spoke to me, he was so comfortable and would truly mess around. When Edward was an idiot, I slapped him on the back of the head to put him in his place, and he was okay with it. Other girls couldn't do that; if someone else slapped him, he would get really mad at them.

What Edward and I had was a mutual agreement, an unspoken oath of secrecy. We never repeated things we had told each other. Alice had been jealous of mine and Edward's relationship. We told each other things that we hadn't told anyone else. But she didn't realise what our relationship was. I don't think anyone did, but me. Alice thought that Edward and I had simply confided in each other... and when Edward and I argued, she told us we should just shut up and get married already. She didn't realise how much those comments stung. Alice never understood that mine and Edward's relationship was very one-way. He had the problems, I had the answer. A mistake I did make, however, was falling in love with him.

I didn't realise until it had already happened, but I had been in love with Edward since I was 17. I noticed one day when we were 18 and 19, he was telling me about this girl he'd met at the University he had begun to attend. I realised that all of the amazing things he was saying about her, I wished he was saying about me. This was what made it hurt so much that he didn't seem to care about me. At all.

I decided that looking through photo albums wasn't going to help anything, and grabbed the house phone to dial Alice's number.

"Hey Bella-boo, what's shaking?" Alice said as she picked up.

"Hey. Erm... Ali? What were you and Edward fighting about earlier?" My voice cracked on Edward's name.

"Nothing much... he was just being immature. He broke up with his latest girlfriend... why? Didn't he tell you? He usually talks to you about that kinda thing." Lauren? I thought he liked her?

"Yeah, not today. But he said something happened." My voice was flat.

"I'm really sorry Bella, I've got a date with Jazz, I'm gonna have to let you go." She said sounding apologetic. "I'll call you back later okay?"

"Okay. Love you Ali."

"Love you too Bells."

Hearing that Alice was going on a date was quite surprising... it was only about 11, wasn't it? A quick look at the clock told me that a lot more time had gone by than I had thought. It was 2 p.m. Alice must have already started getting ready, knowing her the date wouldn't be until 4. Probably a day trip.

I checked my mobile to see that I had 12 missed calls, 3 voice mails, and 9 texts, all from Edward. I checked the texts first.

**Bella, I'm sorry. ****X  
-E**

**Bells... please come back?  
-E**

**Bella.  
-E**

**I'm so sorry Bella... I do care. Please just come back?  
-E**

**I'm sorry Bella. What am I supposed to do?  
-E**

**B. Please. You know I care. I'm distracted. I'm sorry.  
-E**

**Come on Bells, you can't stay mad at me. ;)  
-E**

**Bella... come on, you know I didn't mean it. I've been sitting in here for two hours... you're not coming back are you? Please just answer your phone. I need to talk to you.  
-E**

**Bella. I just wanted to tell you... it's been 4 hours. I'm leaving the coffee shop now. You know, I'm sorry and I do care. I know you don't like how I treat you and I'm sorry I take advantage of how you're always there for me, but Bells. You are my best friend. The one I trust with everything. Please talk to me.  
-Edward Cullen**

The last voicemail wore down my resolve a little... but I knew I couldn't let him treat me the way he had. I couldn't stop myself from clicking voicemail.

"_Isabella Marie Swan. Let's talk about you. You have an older brother, Jazz, and two younger sisters, Eleanor and Amelia, you call them Ellie and Millie but sometimes you call them Zels and Bob. Your parents are called Renee and Charlie and your family means the world to you. You were born on October 28__th__ 1988. It was a Friday. Your favourite colour is purple, and your favourite book is... well, you don't have a favourite book. You read too much to have a favourite book. You love different kinds of music and artists, but your favourite songs are the ones that aren't the most popular. You think Jasper needs to smile more and that he can be moody and insensitive but you love him because he knows how you feel and he calms you down no matter what. You think Emmett is extremely immature and inappropriate and eats far too much, but you love him because he's a big teddy bear who makes you laugh. You think Rose can be a complete bitch, but you love her because she's so loyal. You think Alice is intrusive and nosey, and random and hyper and gets on your nerves but you love her anyway because she has a heart of gold. You think that I use you, and that I shove all of my problems onto you. You think that I am arrogant and immature and that I don't care about you but that last one couldn't be more untrue. I don't know if you love me, and I don't know why you put up with me. But I do know that I never want to lose that. Please call me back."_

I pressed save before listening to the next.

"_I'm sorry Bella... please answer or come to the coffee shop or whatever... I don't care. We need to talk. I'm sorry for the lecture before but... I do care Bella. I want to prove that to you."_

"_Bella. One day I'm going to sit there and think to myself 'Why did I let her leave that day?' and I know I won't be able to answer that question. I can't let you go that easily Bells. You're my best friend. I broke up with Lauren last night... I know how much you hated her. I thought you'd want to know. Anyway... I hope you call back. Bye Bella."_

I woke up on my bed, my phone still gripped in my hands. I listened to Edward's voicemails again. I didn't know what to do anymore. Just as I finished listening to them, my phone started ringing.

"Hello?"

"Bella! You, me big bag of popcorn. Movie night. Now." I heard Alice sing into my ear.

"Now? What time is it?"

"It's 8:30 silly. Come on... we need a girls night. I'll invite Rose too." I thought of the day's events and decided it would be good to have fun with the girls.

"Fine. I'll be there for 9. See ya Al."

I quickly looked in the mirror, I looked presentable. I grabbed a jacket, my phone, keys and locked the door on my way out.

I unlocked the door to Alice's apartment. She had given me a key when she moved in. On the drive over, I had totally pumped myself up for tonight's movie-marathon.

"Bella Swan is in the building!" I yelled coming through the door, and making a beeline for the living room.

I stopped in my tracks when I saw the people sitting there.

"Edward?"

**How I loveeeeee cliff hangers. ;) haha xx Love you guys. X Mwah**


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